13% of Consumers Schedule Doctor’s Appointments via Voice Tech

Healthcare innovation is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, with more and more industry players and stakeholders increasingly adopting newer technologies to simplify patients’ activities.

Take voice technology, for instance. In “Preparing for a Voice Commerce Future Report: Gen AI Raises the Bar on Consumer Expectations for Smart Voice Assistants,” PYMNTS Intelligence drew on a survey of more than 2,900 individuals to explore consumer demand for a voice ecosystem that connects multiple devices and facilitates more complex activities.

The results revealed that 13% of consumers in the United States are now using the technology to schedule doctor’s appointments, highlighting the potential of voice assistants to handle sensitive tasks and streamline healthcare processes.

An example of how voice technology is taking its place as a digital pathway to improve patient experience is through the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistants.

Earlier this month, Notable announced the launch of an AI-powered assistant to its automation platform for patient engagement and staff workflows, using generative and conversational AI to help patients interact with the healthcare system.

With this tool, patients can manage multiple tasks from appointment scheduling to bill payments using their native language and voice commands, offering a seamless and personalized healthcare journey for each patient. Additionally, the AI assistant can understand and answer questions in over 130 different languages, making it accessible to a wide range of patients. Real-time insights and reports generated by the assistant also enable health systems to gain a deeper understanding of patient needs and preferences.

“The addition of the Notable Assistant to our platform continues to set the bar for outcomes our health system partners can achieve,” Notable CEO and co-founder Pranay Kapadia said at the time. “It allows them to deliver a differentiated patient experience and enable their care team members to practice at the top of their license, all while embracing the latest in AI in a safe and responsible way.”

The news came as the healthcare sector is projected to nearly double its spending on AI next year to 10.5%, up from 5.5% in 2022. According to Morgan Stanley, while 94% of healthcare companies are using AI and/or machine learning (ML) in some capacity, “it has yet to reach its full potential as a driver of new business opportunities and efficiencies.”

Kalle Conneryd-Lundgren, chief operating officer at pan-European HealthTech firm Kry, shared this view. He put the healthcare sector at the top of the list when assessing industries set to benefit the most from the transformative power of AI.

“I will go as far as saying that I can’t see any sector that has the same sort of embedded potential as healthcare in terms of using … generative AI like ChatGPT,” Conneryd-Lundgren told PYMNTS in an interview posted in April, adding that “it will be hard for any healthcare provider not to utilize AI in the long term. You simply won’t be effective [without it].”

However, concerns about personal and financial security remain a top priority for consumers and patients alike partly because voice technology is largely device-based and lacks seamless integration across multiple devices and applications. To assuage these concerns, advancements in voice operating systems aimed at achieving a fully integrated voice economy will be crucial, the PYMNTS Intelligence study stated.

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